What Does 1 Samuel 18:10 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The breath that rushes upon Saul makes him prophesy, but leaves the javelin in his hand.
THE MEANING
You see the verse hold a harmful breath from God and Saul’s prophetic speech in one scene, while David plays and the javelin stays in Saul’s hand. The prophetic utterance does not dissolve the danger; speech and threat remain side by side.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A prophetic utterance means the danger has passed; here the javelin remains in Saul’s hand.
THE ROOT
רוּחַ
ruach
GROWS FROM
רוח
ruach
Breath and wind, the moving air that can also name the animating force translated “spirit.”
The Hebrew word holds breath, wind, and spirit together where English selects “spirit.” That unity makes the force that comes upon Saul feel like movement acting on a body, not a detached label.
ALSO GROWS
ruḥot: Winds.
רוּחוֹת
The plural form names winds, keeping the force in this verse connected to air in motion.
ruach: Breath, the air of life.
רוּחַ
The same noun can mean breath, so the arriving force remains connected to embodied breathing.
וַתִּצְלַח
vattitslach
GROWS FROM
צלח
tsalach
To rush forward or come upon; in other forms, to succeed or prosper.
The verb translated “came upon” carries the force of a rush. Its connection to prospering and advancing gives the arrival a sense of movement pressing forward, not mere presence.
ALSO GROWS
tsalach: Rush, advance, come mightily upon.
צָלַח
This rush sense captures how the breath arrives on Saul, as an overpowering movement.
hitzliach: Succeed, prosper, cause to advance.
הִצְלִיחַ
The same root can name forward movement that succeeds, revealing a shared image of advance beneath both arrival and prospering.
וַיִּתְנַבֵּא
vayyitnabe
GROWS FROM
נבא
n-b-ʾ
To speak or act as a prophet; utter prophetic speech.
“prophesied” in this verse is vayyitnabe. The verb marks Saul’s utterance as prophetic action, not only as a prediction about the future. Its family also names the prophet and prophecy, making his sudden speech part of the scene’s visible disturbance while the javelin remains.
ALSO GROWS
navi: Prophet.
נָבִיא
The related noun names the person who speaks prophetically, linking Saul’s action to a recognizable prophetic role.
nevuah: Prophecy.
נְבוּאָה
This branch names the utterance itself, showing how the verb and the speech belong to one word family.
THE PATTERN
An unseen breath becomes visible through what it moves in bodies, speech, strength, or life.
And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:THE THREAD
And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.The same verb translated “come upon” describes the LORD’s breath arriving on Saul and bringing prophecy. Here that rush returns with the word “evil” attached, so prophetic speech and danger inhabit the same pattern.
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